{"id":94198,"date":"2023-06-27T05:10:04","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T05:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/?p=94198"},"modified":"2026-11-04T07:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T07:08:11","slug":"creative-email-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/en\/blog\/2023\/06\/27\/creative-email-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Creative email ideas: 20 ways to make your email stand out (with examples)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How many emails do you get a day? Probably more than you read.<\/p>\n\n

That’s why the best creative email isn’t the flashiest one. It’s the one that stands out from the rest at every step: the sender, the subject line, the first line, the design and the button.<\/p>\n\n

In this article you’ll find 20 creative email ideas, examples from brands that get it right and three templates to copy.<\/p>\n\n

Looking for name ideas for your email address? Then our article on how to choose an email address<\/a> is more what you need.<\/p>\n\n

Here we talk about how to make the emails you send stand out.<\/p>\n\n\n

Creative email ideas at a glance<\/h2>\n\n

These are the 20 ideas for creating original emails, in the order your subscriber sees things from the moment the email arrives.<\/p>\n\n

Idea<\/th>How to apply it<\/th>When it works best<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1. A person’s name as the sender<\/td>“Laura from Green Shop” instead of “Green Shop”<\/td>Newsletters and relationship emails<\/td><\/tr>
2. A subject line that sparks curiosity<\/td>A question or an unexpected fact<\/td>Content and launches<\/td><\/tr>
3. A preheader that completes the subject line<\/td>Add what the subject line doesn’t say<\/td>In every email<\/td><\/tr>
4. A first line without stock phrases<\/td>Start with the interesting part, not with “We are writing to\u2026”<\/td>In every email<\/td><\/tr>
5. A clean single-column design<\/td>Plenty of white space, little text and a single focus<\/td>Promotions and news<\/td><\/tr>
6. One idea per email<\/td>One message and one goal<\/td>Sales campaigns<\/td><\/tr>
7. Your customer’s vocabulary<\/td>Benefits instead of features<\/td>Product pages and offers<\/td><\/tr>
8. A story<\/td>A real case, an anecdote from the team<\/td>Newsletters and personal brands<\/td><\/tr>
9. Your own brand language<\/td>A name for your newsletter and expressions of your own<\/td>Brands with a community<\/td><\/tr>
10. A GIF that makes sense<\/td>One per email, related to the message<\/td>Launches and light-hearted emails<\/td><\/tr>
11. Real photos<\/td>Your team, your workshop, your product in use<\/td>Small businesses and approachable brands<\/td><\/tr>
12. A first-person button<\/td>“I want mine” instead of “Buy”<\/td>Promotions<\/td><\/tr>
13. Links within the text<\/td>The call to action built into a sentence<\/td>Letter-style emails<\/td><\/tr>
14. Real urgency<\/td>An end date that actually exists<\/td>Offers and events<\/td><\/tr>
15. Personalization beyond the name<\/td>Content based on interests or purchases<\/td>Segmented lists<\/td><\/tr>
16. An unexpected format<\/td>A letter, a short list or a single question<\/td>To break the routine<\/td><\/tr>
17. Ask for a reply<\/td>“Reply with one word”<\/td>Welcome and re-engagement<\/td><\/tr>
18. Humor, used carefully<\/td>A joke that fits your brand<\/td>Laid-back brands<\/td><\/tr>
19. A personal signature and a P.S.<\/td>Name, job title and a P.S. with one last hook<\/td>Newsletters<\/td><\/tr>
20. Designed for mobile and dark mode<\/td>Readable text and logos with a transparent background<\/td>In every email<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

Below you’ll find each idea explained, grouped by the part of the email where it applies.<\/p>\n\n

Ideas to make your email stand out in the inbox<\/h2>\n\n

Before opening an email, your subscriber only sees three things: who sent it, the subject line and the preheader. That’s where almost everything is decided.<\/p>\n\n

1. A person’s name as the sender<\/h3>\n\n

An email from “Laura from Green Shop” feels like a conversation. One from “Green Shop” feels like advertising.<\/p>\n\n

You don’t need to change it in every email. Try it in your newsletter and compare the open rate with an A\/B test.<\/p>\n\n

2. A subject line that sparks curiosity<\/h3>\n\n

The subject line is your email’s headline. It works best when it asks a question, hints at a fact or breaks what the reader expects.<\/p>\n\n

You’ll find plenty of examples in our article on original newsletter subject lines<\/a>. If you feel like something bolder, try wordplay<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

3. A preheader that completes the subject line<\/h3>\n\n

The preheader<\/a> is the text that appears next to the subject line in the inbox.<\/p>\n\n

If you don’t write one, the email client will show the first line of the email, sometimes a “View in browser”.<\/p>\n\n

Use it to complete the subject line. If the subject line asks a question, the preheader can hint at the answer.<\/p>\n\n

Ideas for the email content<\/h2>\n\n

Once opened, the email has a few seconds to convince the reader it’s worth reading on.<\/p>\n\n

4. A first line without stock phrases<\/h3>\n\n

“We are writing to inform you that\u2026” is the quickest way to get someone to close your email.<\/p>\n\n

Start with the interesting part: the news, the question or the story.<\/p>\n\n

5. A clean single-column design<\/h3>\n\n

The easiest emails to read tend to be the simplest. Keep these points in mind when designing yours:<\/p>\n\n